HB 67 provides clear definitions for those responsible for following these communication protocols:
• School District Employee: Includes all school administrators, certified teachers, and classified staff. It also now explicitly includes contractors hired by the district to provide services to students.
• Qualified School Volunteer: Includes student teachers, non-faculty coaches (whether paid or unpaid), extracurricular sponsors, and school-sponsored academic tutors.
SOCIAL MEDIA & GROUP COMMUNICATION
A social media account or group chat operated by an employee/volunteer for a team or club meets the legal definition of electronic communication and is prohibited unless one of the following conditions is met:
1. Multi-Party Rule – Communication includes two or more employees/volunteers and one or more students directly related to a school activity.
2. Parental Participation – Parent(s) are included as recipients or participants.
3. Written Consent – Parent has submitted a waiver authorizing communication through that specific account/platform.
HB67 does permit social media interaction (following/friends, post likes/comments, reposting, etc.) so long as the communication is public-facing (no direct messaging).
UPDATED FAMILY MEMBER DEFINITIONS
You may communicate freely with students who qualify as “Family Members.” This includes:
By Relation: Parents, siblings, children, aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, nieces, and grandparents (related by blood, marriage, or adoption).
By Household. Any adult who resides in the same household as the student.
By Responsibility. The definition of “parent” now includes foster parents, foreign exchange host parents, and stepparents responsible for the student.
NEW EXCEPTIONS TO PRIVATE COMMUNICATION
While the rule remains that communication should be through a traceable platform, HB 67 adds these specific legal exceptions where private communication is now permitted:
• Emergencies involving imminent risk to people or property
• School-sanctioned field trips- during the duration of the trip for which the student has parental consent
• Work-based learning placements, directly related to a student’s work placement or internship.
• Multi-party school communications-group messages involving 2 or more staff/volunteers and one or more students for academic or athletic purposes
• Parent-inclusive messaging-Any electronic communication where the student’s parent is a recipient of participant in the message.
COMMERCIAL & LOCAL GOVERNMENT AFFILIATIONS
This is a significant change. Employees with commercial or local government affiliations may communicate privately with students regarding that specific activity (real estate agents, small business owners) if written disclosure is submitted to the principal/supervisor via a Google form.
• The Rule: If you have a commercial or local government affiliation, you may now communicate privately with that student regarding that specific business/activity.
• Requirement: You must submit a disclosure to the district regarding the affiliation. Once disclosed, communication is permissible.
COMMUNITY GROUPS (CHURCH, SCOUTS, ETC.)
Communication involving outside youth groups must include a parent, utilize district-approved systems, or have signed parental consent on file.
• You must communicate through the parent; OR
• You must include the parent as the recipient of the message; OR
•You must have a signed consent form on file with the district
PARENTAL CONSENT (WAIVERS) & REVOCATION
Each consent form must designate a specific employee or volunteer.
Written consent can only be revoked by the parent who originally filed the consent.